Dreams of Many
by Silver Salamander
Summary: It seems that Jack doesn't hate Kimiko quite as much as he should.After an intersting showdown, and an unfortunate series of events Jack has to make a few sacrifices, to save the thing he loves the most. R&R, or flame...
1. Plight

Plight!  
  
It definitely hadn't been a good morning for Jack Spicer, first off he couldn't get any sleep the night before, what with his parents laughter coming from upstairs, then Wuya woke him up at five in the morning shreeking about the 'Sword of the Storm' a new Shen-Gong-Wu. Then after finding it those idiot 'Xiaolin warriors' got there first, Jack lost the showdown with Kimiko, a girl, and lost the Sword and his Third Arm Sash. So no, this definitely was not the best time for a visit from Katnappe.

'So then Jack, lost a few more Shen-Gong-Wu I see?' purred Katnappe teasingly, Jack then scowled and snapped

' I don't see you getting any closer to world domination Kat.' Jack then heard a distinctive low cackle coming from Wuya, who then flew over to Katnappe and said

'Show him what you've been up to then Kat.' Katnappe then let out a little laugh and whipped open her jacket to reveal all the Xiaolin warriors Shen-Gong-Wu hanging inside, all but the Sword of the Storm the Third Arm Sash and the Serpents Tail, which Kimiko won that morning. Jack stared gaping at them all glistening in the silver light of his underground Lab'.

'But, but... huh?' Kat laughed and started to empty out the contents of her jacket onto a nearby table, Wuya then cackled and was about to say something to Kat when her eyes widened and began to spin, she gasped and Jack said 'What is it, a new Shen-Gong-Wu? Come on Wuya we don't have all day.'

'The Longi Kite awakens, it gives all who possess it the ability to fly' said Wuya still a little dazed from the Shen-Gong-Wu buzz.

'Come on then lets go, unless you're too afraid to lose again' cooed Kat. Jack gave her a quick scowl and then ran over to his plane. Kat and Wuya joined him, both still smirking.  
  
It had been a great morning for the Xiaolin warriors, first off they all passed a concentration training test with Master Fung at dawn, then they got a special breakfast to celebrate, each original of their background. Clay got steak and vegetables, Kimiko got a plate of sushi and Raimundo got a plate stacked with Tacos (not original but his favourite food), Omi however just got his usual breakfast but was happy all the same cheerfully telling his friends that all their food looked absolutely disgusting.

Then shortly after breakfast Dojo alerted them to the fact that a new Shen-Gong-Wu had activated, the 'Sword of the Storm' which they then quickly found, as well as Jack Spicer, their 'evil' rival, Kimiko then challenged Jack to a showdown, which she beat him, of course.

So as the warriors came home happily on Dojo, who was just getting over his Shen-Gong-Wu rash they were surprised to see Master Fung standing outside the temple waving his arms at them and looking distressed.

'What's going on down there Omi, I can't see much in this mist.' Said Dojo whilst squinting downwards at the temple, '

Master Fung appears to be in some sort of trouble, quick we must get down to him!' yelled Omi. Dojo did a quick twist and flew down into a rushed landing just outside the entrance to the temple sending the Xiaolins flying off his back.

'Ow! Dojo do you gotta be so rough?' said Raimundo in an annoyed voice whilst helping up Kimiko.

'Sorry kids, but Master Fung looks like he needs you guys real quick.' said Dojo after shrinking to his smaller size. Master Fung approached them quickly with a look of anguish on his face; he stopped before them and sadly told them the news.

'Whilst you and Dojo were gone someone got into the basement and took all the Shen-Gong-Wu they found there' he then turned to Kimiko 'none are left but the ones you are have now Kimiko, this is a grave time.' The warriors were looking around them with frustrated and angry looks Kimiko started

'this is definitely the work of-' Raimundo cut her off,

'Jack Spicer and Wuya were with us, remember Kimiko?' Kimiko looked around her with confusion and desperation; her friends were looking down at the floor.

'Err, guys this may not be the best of times but a Shen-Gong-Wu has just activated.' Said Dojo uncertainly. Master Fung was already holding the Shen-Gong-Wu scroll he unrolled it and read the text

'The Longi kite, it gives those who hold it the ability to soar in the sky. Go young warriors and take the Shen-Gong-Wu with you.'

Dojo transformed back into dragon size and waited for the warriors to get on. The warriors were looking at each other, disheartened as they each climbed onto Dojo's back. This was extremely bad news,thought Kimiko, if Jack hadn't taken the Shen-Gong-Wu, then who had?


	2. Confusion

_Note: I don't own any of the xiaolin showdown characters but I do have a very nice sock._

(**By the way chapters are a lot better after chp4)**

_Here goes, I hope this is a little longer than the last chapter but who knows... Here goes!_

Chapter 2: Confusing times 

The Haelin side.

Jack reached Mt. Olympus, Greece in less than 5 seconds, courtesy of the Golden tiger claws. Hehehe, Jack thought to himself, I finally have the claws. No-one can beat me this time, especially Katnappe, he was getting sick of her attitude, oh how he would love to see the look on her face as he beat her to the prize, after all now that they had the other shen-gong- wu nothing could stop him.

As Wuya came out of the plane her eyes lit up with the image of the kite, she cackled to herself gently, all was going as planned. Soon enough she would ditch Jack and Kat and take the shen-gong-wu with her as she left she smiled to herself for knowing this, and it amused her to see the two youngsters competing with each other for shen-gong-wu, its not like it mattered anyway, soon she would raise Zeloth, her old friend and ally, yes D-day would soon come for them.

Kat wondered along slowly with a slight frown on her face, she was getting sick of the old witch, what did they need her for anyway? Jack was perfectly capable of building some sort of detecting device right?

She would have to pass the idea on but looking over at Jack, who was looking around the landscape with a look of hatred on his face she thought this might not be a good time.

Sometimes she worried about Jack, he seemed to be digging himself into his own little world and never spoke to her, she found herself missing his 'know it all' attitude. And his quirky comments, and his cool hair.

Wait, she'd only seen him, what was it a few minutes ago? Well that was weird how could she miss him this much? Then again things had been strange lately, she recalled the atmosphere in the short journey here and it seemed rather quiet, usually Wuya was going on at Jack for something but no, nothing.

Something was going to happen soon, she just knew it. She looked over to where Jack was to find he had disappeared along with Wuya.

Something very strange was going on, she looked up just in time to see the ground rising up in the distance, a xiaolin showdown, damn. She didn't want to miss this.

She quickly looked around her for the plane but found herself completely alone.

Jack was feeling great it had been just as he'd caught sight of the shen- gong-wu that Kat had trailed of in the opposite direction. Excellent! It was a sure thing, he waited for Kat to wander further away before taking the Tiger claws out and slashing his way to the mountains peak where the Longi kite waited, sitting on a stone pedestal.

He was about to pick up the kite when a voice from behind him made him jump and spin around. 'Avast Jack Spicer, that shen-gong-wu is ours!' It was the temple monk and his gang riding their pet lizard thing.

As they landed Jack caught sight of Kimiko and his heart seemed to skip a beat. Dressed in violet and black with long purple dreadlocks, Kimiko looked quite gothic, he found himself thinking of her, standing close and smiling up at him, he almost blushed.

He quickly stared at the ground, thinking what? What was going on? He didn't like Kimiko, one of those annoying temple freaks, or did he? He shook his head feeling ashamed at himself for thinking such things, yet as he looked up at her again and watched her slide off the lizard the feelings were still there, nagging at him in the back of his head.

He quickly averted his gaze and watched Omi approach, a much safer option. He quickly span back round and grabbed the kite, to find Kimiko holding on to the other end a slow predatory smile reached her face, but as Jack looked into her eyes he saw something strange there, and it unnerved him.

He quickly gathered his wits together and yelled 'Kimiko, I challenge you to a xiaolin showdown.' He set a daring look on his face and stared right into her eyes challenging her. She returned the look and told him she accepted his Golden tiger claws against her Third-arm sash.

The task was set to make their way across a nearby waterfall and grab the Kite without getting splashed. As she agreed a low rumbling met their ears as the ground pushed itself upwards, and rocks and branches pushed themselves out of the waterfall to be used as stepping- stones.

Wuya and Omi & co stood together waiting for the match to begin, whilst Wuya looked sinister and happy the others looked unhappy and menacing, all with stony faces.

Jack and Kimiko turned to each other and happily yelled 'gong-yi-tampai!' and set off. Jack seemed to be enjoying himself, using the tiger claws to scoot out of the way with ease, an seeing that Kimiko had to take the sash and swing out of the way.

As Jack later took a break he turned to look at Kimiko who was standing on a rock jutting out from the waterfall and took a second to watch her take a breath.

He checked above him to see when the next wave would come over and he saw one to his left above Kimiko.

Before he knew what he was doing he was using the claws and pulling her through the portal with him, away from the danger area and over to where he was standing.

The portal closed behind him and Kimiko scrambled up off the floor from where she landed and looked up at Jack incredulously.

He was just standing there, frowning at the ground and looking just as confused as she was.

He looked up at her after a while as if something had just dawned on him then quickly turned and used the Claws to take him to the end of the waterfall.

He then gave Kimiko one last look and saw her looking at him still with a look of surprise on her face, Jacks cheeks turned slowly pink, a look that seemed out of place on his face. He then looked down and quickly grabbed the kite.

Jack was numb to the fact that the ground was falling down around him, he was replaying what just happened over again in his head with a look of pure confusion playing on his face.

Why?

What possessed him to do something like that?

What was the point?

He'd won anyway and made himself look like a fool.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes with embarrassment and confusion. He couldn't bear to look up at the others so as soon as he felt the shen-gong- wu materialise into his arms he took to the skies using his jetpack and flew off into the distance.

The Temple side

It had been a long uncomfortable journey on Dojo but finally the temple warriors reached they're destination.

Dojo filled them in 'this looks like Mt Olympus, home to the Greek gods, ooh, definitely the right spot look there's Spacer's Robot plane thing. I'm sensing...'

'OVER THERE!' yelled Kimiko butting in, 'the mountaintop, quick ill bet you Spicers round there somewhere.'

Dojo did a large turn then sped over to the mountaintop, sure enough the saw Jack Spicer just walking over to the pedestal which the Kite was settled on. A loud shout erupted from behind Kimiko

''Avast Jack Spicer, that shen-gong-wu is ours!' Ugh, Omi still seemed obsessed with pirates, she wished shed never explained the concept to him.Still, she looked back down to the ground to see Jack.

Strange, Spicer would usually be taunting them by now, and yet he was just staring at the ground. She frowned then gracefully slid off Dojo, landing with a small jump.

As she looked back up at Jack again he was staring stonily at Omi. She quickly saw her chance and darted round the side of Jack.

She came up behind him and seized the kite, only to find Jack holding onto the other end. She slowly smiled, she hadn't done a showdown for so long...

Yet as she looked up to his eyes her look softened

He looked different somehow close up, or could it be that he didn't seem to be so controlled as he usually was, didn't look so...so...sinister, he looked almost captivated by her eyes.

She found herself dazed as she looked into his eyes but then after a second his face changed back into his usual smirk and he challenged her to a showdown. She then regained control of herself and agreed to the terms, before she knew it they were rising up to the sky.

Kimiko turned to see the others smile at her, they still looked so unhappy, usually they were quite exited to see a showdown, after all the usually won. Kimiko frowned, yes, she thought I will win this one.

I have to.

She slowly turned back, sighed and let herself succumb to the adrenaline that was already pumping through her blood.

She then turned almost smiling to Jack and they both simultaneously yelled 'gong-yi-tampai!' and set off. As soon as they started Kimiko saw her immediate disadvantage, she quickly had to use the sash to swing herself out of the way of oncoming waves of water coming over the top of the waterfall.

She set a quick glance up to see how far Jack had got and saw him jumping through portal to portal with ease she curled he top lip up at him and quickly set off again with newly found energy.

ARGH! Thought Kimiko she was going too slowly she almost got soaked, but she was already going at top speed.

She quickly hopped onto a nearby jut of rock and stopped to catch her breath. Just as she was beginning to feel ready to go again she looked up to see a wave coming for her, a split-second later she let out a small scream, and felt something pulling her shoulders backwards towards the drop.

She shut her eyes and then felt herself land on solid ground.

What happened?

Was it over, had she lost?

She down at herself she was still completely dry. She looked up incredulously to see Jack Spicer standing before her, looking confused.

After a while he looked up and jumped through a portal that took him to the end of the waterfall. She saw him turn to look at her, then quickly turn to grab the Kite.

As the ground slowly went back to normal she found herself still staring at Jack, who was nearer to her now. She was sure she could see a blush on his face as he stared at the ground.

She then also looked to the floor, as if it would help clear her head. He'd pulled her away.

Why?

The aim was to win but he'd still done it.

Sure he'd won anyway, but he'd done that, for her.

She quickly looked back up to where he stood, only to see his silhouette flying off into the distance.

She watched him go with tears pricking in her eyes, she didn't notice Wuya cursing in the background or Raimundo and Dojo's words of shock, she only came back to down to earth when she felt a large hand resting on her shoulder.

It was Clay, looking down at her with a slight frown on his face. He crouched down and said quietly 'Are you alright Miss Kimiko?' The answer was that she didn't know.

_The end (of this chapter) hope you liked it please review_


	3. The Plot Thickens

_Hey! I'm back I don't own anything except the plot and Zeloth, she's probably the only OC I'm going to have because it's going to focus more on Kimiko/Jack from now on._

_Also thanks to TamerTerra,for the stellar review._

_I read through the last chapter and I understand about the POV's I have therefore done this one differently. I'm doing different POV's per chapter with a short overlap, hope it helps. ALSO! technically im writing in 3rd person, so not a POV, sorry if im confusing you..._

_This one's mostly Jacks POV_

**Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens**

If the Greek gods had been watching what went on between the two challengers in the showdown they would have laughed. It was plain for all to see that they were perfect for each other. Then again, mortals seemed to miss these things.

It was dusk by the time Jack returned. He unlocked the back door to his parent's house and went inside, the memory of Kimiko's confused face still on his mind. He groaned and slammed the door behind him.

He turned to see his mother standing in front of him, looking at him with a worried expression on her face.

Ha. It was amazing she even _noticed_, let alone cared, she was usually to busy 'entertaining'.

He quickly fixed a glare on his face and pushed past her, making for the steps to the basement, the entrance to his sanctuary. He heard her calling behind him but he ignored it and took off down the steps.

Jack had cleared out the basement two years back, putting a sofa some books and a TV set down there, just to make it look like that was why he went down there. He strode over to the opposite wall where a black Japanese tapestry hung, covering half of the wall, floor to ceiling

He pushed this to one side and opened the old wooden door, in front of him was a small passage before reaching a tough and battered looking steel door.

His pace quickened as he reached it, knowing that what lay beyond it was truly his own.

He pushed the door open to see a quick flurry of purple rush towards him; he flinched before hearing an ear splitting screech.

'WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING BOY?!

YOU COULD HAVE LOST US THE SHEN-GONG-WU FOR THAT WENCH!

ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND?!

WELL WHERE IS IT?

YOU'D BETTER NOT HAVE LOST IT YOU STUPID BOY!'

Well it _used_ to be his own anyway.

He let out a small sigh before taking the Kite out of his jacket and silently placing it on the table, not bothering to think of a cutting reply to Wuya's outburst.

He eyed a nearby chair and slumped back in it, taking a moment to close his eyes.

'WELL?'

He opened his eyes again to glare at Wuya's ghostly form.

'Well what?' he spat out.

He received an incredulous look from Wuya who quickly reverted to her furious state.

'You know what I'm talking about, Jackie,' stated Wuya slowly, her voice deadly calm.

'No? Well, let me remind you, YOU TURNED BACK AS YOU WERE WINNING TO CHECK OUT THAT GIRL! THEN YOU ATTEMPT TO RESCUE HER FROM A HARMLESS WAVE THAT WOULD'VE MEANT YOU WON.!'

Jack had been stewing since he'd left Greece and this was enough to push him off the edge.

He stood up at once and the chair was knocked over behind him

'I WAS NOT CHECKING HER OUT!' he screamed

'I DON'T EVEN LIKE KIMIKO!'

His voice cracked, he realised how stupid it sounded, there was no way he didn't like Kimiko, not after what he'd done.

The way she walked, talked everything. Jack let out a groan, he had fallen and it was too late to get up again, that's why he'd saved her, he couldn't bear to see her hurt, couldn't leave her in danger.

Wuya let out a low laugh.

'Finally dawned on you has it?

I hope you're very happy knowing that in the next few hours, for you see Jack, I don't need you anymore, nor do I need that pathetic kitten girl, I've already got rid of her and this will probably finish _you_ off.

With what power I had left I have brought forth the spirit of Zeloth, a Haelin witch with equal power to myself. All that's left to do now is to put her into a new body. My dear Jack you've provided me with a perfect solution. Kimiko will make an excellent body for 2 reasons:

1) We could possibly get one over on the opposition and,

2) It would hurt _you_ a great deal, IM sick to death of your pathetic whining and failure.

So you see Jackie its all your fault and you cant do a damn thing about it!'

Jack stood still, shell-shocked his face a mask of disbelief. Slowly his expression changed, he said quietly

'You can't do that, you don't have the power, how could you make her go through with it? You aren't exactly solid yourself.'

Wuya looked furious, he'd ruined her moment of gloating, the moments that Jack himself loved so much.

'Listen to me, stupid boy I don't _need_ her to comply, nor do I need extra power, its ALL cared for. Understand?'

She didn't wait for an answer

'I'll give you some time to take in what I've just said, it must be hard for you to comprehend,

I expect to see you later trying to pathetically defend the opposite side, after all they are everything you're not, they were winners you _still_ are a loser,' Wuya paused here to give a dark cackle.

'Why ever would she be interested in you? After all, you are the bane of her existence...

Meanwhile

'Oh my god, Sasha I know but what does it MEAN?'

Kimiko was alone in her room, lying on her mat and speaking into a mobile phone.

'No way that's just NO! I mean JACK, he's the bane of my existence isn't he?

Well no, I don't hold anything against him personally I mean, the only times we fought either I won or he helped me then ran off.

Well, he has really pale skin with the most amazing red hair, it looks all spiky, I wonder what it feels like...

shut UP sasha,

I just,

what?

Oh yes, he this cool gothic dress-sense with these cool spiral goggles he keeps around his head,and black outlines round his eyes, maybe eyeliner, with a black line coming down on his left eye onto his cheek that looks about three centimetres long, maybe half an in- _No,_ I just noticed...'

Kimiko paused then remembering what had happened earlier that day, replaying it all in her mind,stopping on the look of shame on Jack's face as he took off. The way that she'd felt that she would have given anything just to go with him, to fly off together towards the setting sun...

She was dragged back to earth as she heard a rather pissed off Sasha screaming 'hello?' down the phone.

'I'm still here Sash, I think you're right, I do like him.

Hell, I like him _a lot._

I don't know if this was any good or not, PLEASE tell me,

all you need to do is hit the review button, Flames are welcome, its damn cold in England at this time of year, um in midsummer...?


	4. White Noise

**Rewritten at the time of writing chapter seven, as I felt that perhaps the awful mess that was the previous chapter four was putting people off the rest of the story.**

**Thanks to Chixicub for the BETA work.**

**Or in my native tongue, Cheers mate!**

**Chapter 4 - White Noise.**

The usually calm and relaxing air of the temple had dissipated, leaving only feelings of fear, anger and guilt behind. Master Fung had given up trying to continue training the dragons. The atmosphere of the temple was all wrong, and trying to meditate there seemed a waste of time.

He had begun leaving the temple to meditate, choosing instead to clear his mind by a nearby waterfall.

The dragons interpreted this as disappointment, leaving them all feeling ashamed of their actions, though none of them truly knew what their actions had been.

Raimundo spoke less, never bothering to correct Omi's speech errors, Clay hadn't changed much, his cheerful demeanour reduced to a more subtle hint of optimism.

Omi had contributed most to the new atmosphere of the temple; his cheerful demeanour had been replaced with a darker Omi, who had taken to brooding about the temple grounds. He had taken the theft as a personal blow, he had always considered himself the true leader of the dragons, and he had prided himself on his own abilities and those of his team. Yet it seemed that all this had been useless, they had been made to look like fools and somehow, it was his fault.

Kimiko was sitting, legs askew on the temple steps, mulling over her previous phone conversation with Sasha. It was embarrassing to have Sasha make assumptions about her feelings for Jack, though when she thought about it, Jack wasn't all that bad. Sure he had a small case of world domination going on, but he hadn't got any farther with his plans, and it never seemed like he was truly evil.

It seemed he had no intentions of ever truly harming her or her friends, surely if it were so then he would use that overactive brain of his to build some better robots.

She didn't really mind him. After all, and she had always admired his style, as she was deeply interested in the alternative clothing at home in Japan. Even when they were fighting he had never posed as much of a rival.

She sighed, agitated now.

All this, and yet his involvement with Wuya, the fact they were competing for the shen-gong-wu and his obvious disdain for the dragons left a bitter taste in her mouth. She couldn't really figure him out at all.

She wasn't going to risk him knowing about her possible feelings for him, at least until she knew more of his true intentions, which left her with one option - She was going to avoid him.

Forever.

She then dismissed the thought, there was no way she was going to run away just to keep out of his way, and besides - what was the harm in watching from a distance?

She was awakened from her thoughts by the sound of footsteps coming from inside the temple. She turned, expecting to see Omi heading past her, only to see an empty hallway.

Even as she stared down the hallway the footsteps were getting closer. Kimiko frowned. If it wasn't Omi, then there shouldn't be anyone inside the temple.

Perhaps it was the impostor!

Her heart paused a moment as she wondered whether it could be Jack, but then swiftly pushed that thought away, he wasn't subtle enough for a stealthy approach, what with his obsessive fetish for gloating.

Kimiko stood, now facing the temple entrance, trying to focus on where the sound was coming from. Earlier it seemed as if the footsteps were coming towards her, it now seemed as if they were retreating. Perhaps the intruder had seen her?

Still seeing nothing she made her way inside, the sound of footsteps gradually fading, the noise echoing around the empty halls.

Kimiko noted this with alarm and began to jog down the hallway, quietening her own footfalls so she could still detect the noise. The steps sped up quickly, making Kimiko break into a run to follow them. She stopped to peer around the next corner, and saw a dark shape head into one of the meditation rooms. She didn't know why it was there, but she knew for sure that it wasn't her friend and she wasn't going to let whatever it was escape. She wanted Master Fung to be proud of her again.

Wishing her friends were there to support her, Kimiko silently headed down the hall, grabbing a staff from the hooks on the wall before proceeding to stop outside the door.

She heard muffled noises from inside, and decided that seeing as she would be seen no matter what, she might as well as swallow her fear and dive in.

She gulped and did just that.

Once inside the room her mouth dropped open, for there was no cloaked stranger, but a haelin witch with a sinister smirk on her face, levitating beside a small wooden chest.

She had dropped her staff in shock, but now she detachedly realised it would have been useless anyway.

She took a deep breath, ready to scream for help, but as she did so she was suddenly wrapped in a deadly silence.

She screamed then, only to find that not even the tiniest noise came out of her throat. She tried again, screaming for help with all she had, trying to warn the others that Wuya was here.

She stared in front of her, eyes wide and fearful as she tried to cry out.

She screamed again, the fact that she wasn't making the slightest sound only terrifying her more. One more racking scream and the effort became too much. Tears ran down her cheeks as she slid down to the floor shaking her head, pausing only to see Wuya, her head thrown back in a malicious cackle.

Slowly she began to hear a low hum, the sound starting low and rising slowly.

As the blood pumped in her ears, she watched as the lid of the chest was flung open, and as the terrible noise seemed to increase on all frequency waves began to overwhelm Kimiko, she silently shrieked as a thin trickle of blood ran from each ear, and down either side of her jaw in perfect symmetry.

It was then that she noticed a low hum, the sound slowly increasing in pitch and volume.

As she began to hear the blood pumping in her ears, her heartbeat increased gradually as she watched as the lid of the chest fling open. The terrible noise seemed to increase on all frequency waves, her eardrums thrummed as the noise began to overwhelm her, She became aware of a deathly pain in her ears, the sound quiteting as the pain increased. She brought a hand to her ear and screamed as it came back stained with glistening blood. She slowly became aware of the scarlet rivers running down her neck, staining her kimono with it's taint.

A strange dark mist then burst out of the chest, waves of it rising as a tower above the chest, the flow only slowing as the tail end rose out of the chest. The mist drew back, as a cobra before it strikes, before rushing full speed towards Kimiko's bloody, screaming form.

The mist spread as it reached Kimiko, rushing into her bleeding ears, flowing down her raw throat as she feebly tried to stop it. It seeped through her very skin and shot us her petite nose, leaving the flesh raw and bloody.

Kimiko held her mouth open in an everlasting scream, never to be heard by human ears. The white noise faded slowly into a deafening silence.

Kimiko felt faint, her head throbbing as if there was something heavy at the back of her skull, continually pushing her downwards.

The last thing Kimiko could comprehend was a pale face framed by shocking red, watching from the doorway. His face a picture of horror.


	5. Enter The Darkness

**Finally, a new chapter, I usually write chapters all in one go, so I thought that maybe that was the reason they weren't very well written, so I wrote this in several stages, which should hopefully make a difference. It's also my longest chapter yet…**

**Chapter 5 Enter the Darkness**

* * *

Jack stood, unable to move as he watched Kimiko's slender body fall to the ground, her eyes scrunched up and her chest heaving as she tried to scream, yet not a sound came out of her mouth.  
He watched, unable to so much as blink as she sat on the floor looking as if she was howling in pain.  
Looking closer at her form, he noticed the thin trickles of blood rolling out of her ears.  
He wanted to scream, wanted to run towards her, to help her, but he found he couldn't move, he heard Wuya's loud chanting, a strange blackened music ringing through his ears. 

Jack watched the mist fly out of the chest, and looked on in horror as it flew towards Kimiko.  
Her soft black hair was falling around her limp body in disarray, the outlines of her body were shrouded in a thick, dark mist, which seemed to be seeping into her every pore, her once clear porcelain skin turning a shade of dull grey.  
He felt his heart wrench as he remembered the look of pure horror that he saw in Kimiko's eyes simply moments beforehand, the way she couldn't struggle, didn't move.  
His mouth grew dry as he tried to swallow down the lump that had formed in his throat, and he tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes.

He closed his eyes, and tried to forget the stark image before him, of purity being corrupted by evil, darkness taking old over light. Through the darkness of his eyelids he could still see her, his mind replaying the scene before him. The look on Kimiko's face as she tried to cover her ears from some unknown sound, the silent tears that escaped from her wide eyes as she saw the unfurling mist before her twist and transform, before taking an almost solid shape.

He remembered how her glistening eyes suddenly clamped shut, as if her mind was trying to block something out of her head.  
The mist slowly begun to disperse, and Kimiko's eyes shot open, and a fleeting look of pain shone through her eyes, before they turned blank, the sparkle of life had left her eyes, leaving them blank and unfeeling.

He had shivered as he saw those eyes, the eyes he usually saw with an accompanying smile, - merited never smiling at him - so empty as they stared up at him.  
He saw something stir then, in the depths of her eyes, before her bloody body fell to the ground.

Jack took in a ragged breath, trying to force the image from his mind, when he heard a low chuckle coming from the other side of the room.  
He opened his eyes, his vision slightly blurred as he sought for the source of the unwelcome sound.  
His sight settled on a purple blur, floating above ground on he other side of the room, Wuya.  
He clamped his eyes shut, to let the tears fall, and looked up again; his sight improved enough to see the clear smirk on Wuya's face as the volume of her laughter increased.

As he watched Wuya throw her head back in merciless laughter Jack began to shake.  
His eyes, still wet with tears shone in anger.  
Wuya seemed to notice this change, and reduced he laughter into a deep, taunting chuckle.

'What's the matter Jackie? Too late?'  
Her lip curled up into a sneer.

'Even when you try to do something 'good' for once it all goes wrong, doesn't it Jackie.  
Everything you touch, everything you try to create, it all gets destroyed boy, and it is destroyed by you.  
You are pathetic.  
Useless.  
A snivelling little brat who only cares for himself, and decidedly falls for the first little whore he comes across.'  
Everything you touch, everything you try to create, it all gets destroyed boy, and it is destroyed by you.

Through her little speech Jack's eyes had narrowed to slits, the rage inside him far surpassing any other emotion, he completely forgot about Kimiko, where he was, what had happened in the last few minutes.  
All he could see was Wuya, taunting him as she had been doing endlessly for the past few months, all he could feel was the feral urge for revenge, and the burning hatred inside, at Wuya's last comment he snapped.  
'I DID NOT DESTROY KIMIKO!  
I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS MESS YOU HAVE CREATED,  
EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE CREATED, EVERYTHING I TOUCHED, IT WAS ALL DESTROYED BY YOU!'  
Jack's voice changed, becoming deadly quiet.  
'No matter what I did you never respected me, always taunted me.  
I never really noticed at the time, but looking back I can see you've always hated me, you have never taken me seriously, you were just jerking me along on a string the whole time.'  
Jack's words were full of hate, his face showing every emotion his words were incapable of carrying.  
'No matter what happens, I will not let you take Kimiko, I will not let you destroy something that was never mine to begin with.'

By this time Wuya had ceased her chuckling, and was simply watching the fleeting emotions fly across Jack's face.  
She scowled, the boy was taking himself seriously for once, and there had not been a shadow of doubt in his words.  
Wuya smiled, this could prove to be very interesting.

qpqp

Clay sighed, ever since they had lost the shen-gong-wu the dragons motivation had been down to a minimum. Even Omi had lost most of his enthusiasm, occasionally busting out with the odd 'Eureka!' before shaking his head again in frustration and going back to his brooding.  
Clay was sitting in the training area outside the temple, absentmindedly scraping away at a wooden carving, which although started out looking mildly like a small horse, had been scraped away into a small shapeless block.  
He looked back at what he was doing, seeing the mess he had made of his carving and let it drop to the floor.  
As boredom took over he decided to head back to the temple entrance, where he knew Raimundo and Omi were sparring.  
Clay approached the temple to a sight of Omi being thrown backwards onto the floor by a gust of wind.  
'Come on Omi, at least try to concentrate a little, this is getting a little boring.'  
Raimundo had a tired expression on his face, not dissimilar to the look on Omi's face.

Omi picked himself up and greeted Clay with a nod.  
The group stood around in a somewhat awkward silence, no one made an effort to speak, and after a few seconds of the mindless silence Omi's head jerked up.  
'What is that?'

Raimundo and Clay also looked up, each with a frown on their face.

'That's not good' Stated Raimundo.

'Can y'all feel it? It's as if the darkness is closing in around us, I -'  
Clay was interrupted by the sound of Jack Spicer's voice, echoing out of the temple doors.

Each of the dragons assumed a look of determined anger on their faces before simultaneously running into the temple.  
The group reached the temple centre only seconds later, the sight of a somewhat rough looking Jack Spicer glaring at a smiling Haelin witch met their eyes, before looking behind them, seeing Kimiko's form lying limply on the floor.

'JACK SPICER! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HERE?  
WHAT DID YOU DO TO KIMIKO?'

Jack curled his upper lip up at hearing Raimundo's voice, but did not break eye contact with Wuya.

Just as Jack was about to open his mouth to tell Raimundo just how much he wasn't wanted, he noticed Kimiko silently pick herself up off the ground.  
She stood in one graceful movement, and brushed the dirt off her shoulders, her back to the room.

'Kim! Are you alright? What's going on?'  
Clay said, unsure of himself.  
Kimiko began to laugh, although she laughed with a low, dark voice.  
Her laughter got louder, and was joined by Wuya's dark cackle, both of them in a darkly perfect harmony.

'K-Kim?'

The laughter quickly died down, and Kimiko span around to face the rest of the room.  
Everyone in the room apart from Wuya and Jack let out a gasp.  
Kimiko's usually slate blue eyes had changed into the sinister shade of blood red.

Kimiko's face twisted into an evil smile.  
'Ah! I see we have a little audience here, hmph, the Spicer kid, I've heard a lot about you,  
And you three brats must be the Xiaolin Dragons. What a joke!'  
'Come to join in the fun? Play the games, sing the songs?'  
Kimiko paused to sneer at the dragons.  
'We are a happy bunch today aren't we?'  
Omi took on a slightly confused expression.  
'You…you… Kimiko?'  
Kimiko let out a gleeful cackle.  
'Oh how rude of me, let me introduce myself. I am Zeloth of Garett, the only other Haelin witch to survive the cleansing of the first world, all those years ago.  
I myself have been imprisoned in that dear little box for uncounted centuries.'  
At this point Zeloth took on a slightly glazed look, as if remembering her hated years imprisoned in a wooden chest. The look passed in moments, the familiar twisted sneer returning to her face.  
'I was but one step away from destroying the world the last time I was free, but I was hindered by a rare mortal and imprisoned.  
Lucky for you that mortal is long dead, so we get to have the fun of finishing the game.'  
'I Zeloth, will rule the world with my power! I will cause eternal darkness and become Queen of the earth!  
I will-'  
An infuriated Wuya cut off Zeloth's rant.  
'WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'I'?  
IF NOT FOR ME YOU WOULD STILL BE ROTTING IN THAT BOX!  
You seem to have forgotten it is I you owe your life to.'  
Zeloth appeared slightly amused.  
'And you seemed to have forgotten that I am the one with a solid body.'  
'How dare you even think of defying me! You-'

The two witches continued their bickering while Jack and the three dragons watched on, each with a look of disbelief on their faces.

As Wuya got more and more enraged things began to fly off the shelves, smashing onto the surrounding floor and walls.  
The pair were obviously too absorbed in their argument to notice their surroundings.

Raimundo couldn't take it any more.  
'Jack what the hell has been going on down here?  
What part did you have to play in all of this?  
Was it you who led them here?'

Jack turned to Raimundo with a half-hearted glare.

'What can I say?  
Not my fault, Wuya disowned me anyway, I got here too late…'  
The watching dragons were surprised to see a look of regret linger over Jack's face.  
The emotion was quickly replaced by a stoic determination.  
'But everything will be fine.  
After all the things I've been through with Wuya, this is going to be one match I will not lose.'

Raimundo scoffed  
'What are you talking about? Even when you talk in short sentences you make no sense! Is this why you usually spend so  
much time gloating and laughing? Just because you can't actually construct a sentence?.'

Clay had watched Jack as Raimundo had taken his digs, and was perturbed to see that Jack hadn't defended himself or fought back at all. He decided he knew enough of what was going on to make a decision.  
'Rai? Hold it.'  
Raimundo gave Clay a glare, but did as he was told.  
'I've decided that we should make a truce. From wh-'  
'WHAT?'  
Both Jack and Raimundo stared wide-eyed at Clay, disbelief clearly written all over their faces.

'A truce with our sworn enemy?  
The guy who has been at Wuya's side since day one?  
Are you completely OUT OF YOUR MIND?'  
Jack said nothing, he was watching Clay, still blinking owlishly in disbelief.

'I'm not sure whether any of you guys noticed, but I think it's clear that Jack wouldn't do anything to hurt Kimiko.  
I mean, remember what happened on the last showdown?'

Jack scowled at the ground, blushing.

'Yeah, thanks for bringing that up' Raimundo frowned.  
'I still don't see why we should become friends all of a sudden he-'

'If Jack is serious about helping then I see no reason why he should not. We will do this for Kimiko.'  
Omi's voice rung true through Raimundo's ears.  
'For Kimiko…'  
Raimundo nodded slowly.  
Jack scowled.  
Although it made sense, he still despised them all, though he was beginning to understand them a little more.  
He stood, thinking through the proposition before him.  
After a few moments he looked up at Clay and nodded.  
'Alright, but only until we get Kimiko back.'  
Clay gave him a grim smile and offered his hand.  
Jack raised an eyebrow before shaking on the truce.  
Raimundo watched them shake on the deal, but was still unsure about the whole idea.  
This was Jack Spicer, the boy bent on world domination, could they really trust him with this?  
Raimundo had no option other than to agree, the decision had already been made, he sure hoped Clay knew what he was doing.

There was a sudden silence, and the newly united dragons looked up to see that Zeloth and Wuya had stopped bickering.  
Wuya had gone into a Shen-gong-wu trance.  
'Shen-gong-wu, the shadow of fear, that should be fun.'

Zeloth let out a dark giggle.  
'It seems the games have begun.'  
Zeloth left the room with an insane cackle, her whoops of laughter quickly fading into the distance.  
Wuya shook her head, it seemed that being locked in a chest for a few centuries could reek havoc with ones sanity.

Dojo slithered through the doorway, an unusually pale shade of green.  
'Dojo-' Omi started.  
'Yeah, I know kid, I was listening. You gotta get to that Shen-gong-wu fast, you can't risk losing another one.

Jack was already pulling the start-up cable on his Jet-pack..

'No, it'll be quicker if you hitch a ride with us kid, I don't like it, but…'  
Dojo went quiet, and looked at the space where Zeloth had been standing only minutes before.

'What are y'all waitin' for? We got a Shen-gong-wu to catch'.

Dojo immediately took on his dragon form, and Omi, Clay and Raimundo hopped on.

'Come on Spicer, if you want to help you're gonna have to do it our way.'

Jack frowned, and raked his hands through his hair.

For Kimiko…

Jack quickly jumped onto Dojo, who promptly rose from the floor, and manoeuvred himself out of the doorway, through the corridor and out into the open sky.

* * *

_Ah, it feels as if my head is floating, where am I, all I can see is black…_  
_ Surrounded by darkness, where is everyone?_  
_ I don't remember… what happened to me…the pain, the noise it was! it was nothing..._  
_ My head feels so light, I think, I think I'm going to faint…_  
_ But… Jack… where am I… what happened to Jack…_  
_ All I can remember is… Jack…_

* * *

**R & R Please folks, I'm pretty happy with that chapter…**


	6. A Fleeting Light

_**Welcome all.**_

_**Thanks for the reviews, sorry again for the long wait.**_

**_It's always nice to receive feedback  _**

_**I really am trying to improve my writing style, so it's nice to hear that the last chapter was a little better than the previous ones.**_

_**(sorry again for chapter 4, that was hideous)**_

_**This chapter seems to be even longer than the last, I sure hope you think that's a good thing…**_

_**Also, would anyone be interesting about taking part as a BETA reader?**_

_**I feel that a second view could improve the story somewhat, but if no one's interested then that's OK too.**_

_**To any of you who have seen the episode with the shadow of fear, I haven't seen it, nor the ones following it, so my depiction of it is probably way off, sorry about that, but it couldn't be helped.**_

A fleeting light.

There was a sly wind picking up over the old town of Whitby, England, a wind as old as the earth, uneasy as it travelled up towards the east cliff.

Upon the cliff top stood the silhouette of the abbey , more beautiful in a state of wild decay than it had ever been whole. The wind, no more than a soft breeze picked its way through the ruins, moving between broken pillars and gaping windows.

The abbey had withstood the salty batterings of the sea and lasted out war, over the years it had become a recognised place of power by the people of Whitby, respected for it's stoic endurance against the damage of mankind, and the more destructive forces of nature.

Deep within the centre of the ruins, in a corner dancing in the shadows, a small patch of grass grew between a gap in the stones.

Slowly, the wild grasses began to part. If one were to listen, the soft sound of tearing roots could be heard as a strange object began to work it's way out of the ground. The object looked foreign to its surroundings, an ancient looking staff, with a dull golden sheen, a strange jaded globe bound onto one end.

Nearby, St. Mary's church chimed midnight, the stark toll echoing around the abbey's landscape.

As the last chime sounded, a dark misty substance began to form inside the globe, giving it an ethereal, violet glow.

Somewhere on the other side of the earth, in a jet speeding over southern India, a low cackle could be heard, often in harmony with an insane, gleeful giggle, as two old witches grew closer to achieving their goal.

Their was an uneasy silence hanging over the motley crew of boys flying north over the pacific ocean, heading off in the opposite direction of the object they should be racing towards.

Each of the boys felt a certain pull on their hearts, the further they went, the worse it became.

As they finally approached land, somewhere over Canada, Dojo made a sleek landing, just between an old pine forest, and a large mansion.

Omi was first to speak, not quite breaking the tension between the boys.

'OK Jack, we came here to get the shen-gong-wu, and only you know where they are, and as the waters of time are running fast-'

'Er Omi, you mean _sands_ of time'

'Yes, yes Clay, as I said, waters of time are running fast, so we need to go _now._

It will be doing us no good to stand here making idle chatter when we have something to do, don't you agree?

I for one think so, after all, wasting so much time would inevitably cause Wuya and Zeloth to trigger the apocalypse.'

Omi looked up from his speech, expecting to see some slight signs of obedient guilt on Jack's face, as he absorbed Omi's wise advice.

Instead he was greeted with an empty space.

'Wha? Where-'

Raimundo sighed,

'He went that way, come on Omi, we need to make sure we have most of the shen-gong-wu, just in case Jack is up to something.'

Omi nodded, and the three left Dojo in the gardens, following jack through the back entrance to the mansion, where they found an open trap door, leading down to a tunnel underneath the house.

The three raced down the stairs, and just as they reached the bottom, Jack headed them off, an annoyed expression on his face.

'Hey. Who invited you guys down here?'

He paused, taking time to glare at each of their blank faces.

'As I recall this is _my_ secret lair, and none of you were invited in. Just because were on the same side now doesn't mean I want you _losers_ traipsing around in my private space'

Raimundo spluttered, but before he could object Jack handed them all a few shen-gong-wu each, leaving him with the monkey staff, which he had a strange liking for.

'That's all the shen-gong-wu, you have them, so go, get out of my lair.

I said GO! Don't make me call out the jack-bots.'

Raimundo snorted and rolled his eyes, before racing back up the stairs, shortly followed by an amused Clay and a dancing Omi.

Jack sighed, he had never thought he would see the day when he was bound to that group of dysfunctional idiots, let alone have them traipsing around inside his lair, the only place he was truly comfortable in.

Unfortunately the circumstances had changed, he thought to himself as he raced up the stairs. There is nothing I won't do so I can free myself from these losers.

However doing that also involved somehow freeing Kimiko and saving the world.

Which meant he had _no_ time for perfecting his gloat, and if everything went well, he would need a good one.

The problem was, he had no idea how to go about getting Kimiko back. He was playing confident in front of the others, as if he was organised, knew what he was doing, but he wasn't.

He was still alone in the world and deep inside himself he doubted that he could ever get Kimiko back, he would fail again, and Kimiko would be lost forever.

He wouldn't allow that.

Not when this was all his fault to begin with

He silently swung onto Dojo, behind the others, quickly reverting to his arrogant persona, a bored expression not quite hiding the brooding look in his eyes.

Better to seem egotistical than weak he thought, after all it had worked for the larger part of his life, why should it fail now?

Dojo took off with as much energy as he could muster, after all this could be the decider. Dojo knew they couldn't losing it.

Team morale wasn't exactly at a high period, and if they lost this match, what chance would they have later on?

He picked up speed, a determined frown etched into his reptilian features.

After what had seemed like days flying over endless blue the western coast of Britain appeared through the clouds. A few moments after the coastline appeared on the horizon Dojo began to shudder violently, leaving the others clinging on for dear life as they flew over the moonlit landscape.

'T-t-touchdown folks, it's definitely somewhere close, over by that cliff' shivered Dojo.

He glided down as smoothly as he could manage, glad for the coming period of rest, no matter how uncomfortable the shaking became.

Just before Dojo hit the earth with a quiet sliding sound, the unlikely team jumped off into the grass, eyes already searching for the elusive 'shadow of fear'.

The group split up, each heading for different corners of the ruins, desperately searching for a trinket they had never seen before, without the use Master Fung's scroll, they would have to check the use of the shen-gong-wu when they returned.

Jack's mouth was set into a grim line, he was determined to get this over and done with, hopefully they could find the shen-gong-wu before the witches turned up.

There was something about seeing Kimiko's face twisting into an ugly sneer that made his stomach turn over.

He shook his head, trying to get the image out of his head, when he first heard the telltale sounds of a familiar aircraft.

His heart sank as he turned around, and sure enough, his old jet plane was making a screwball landing in the centre of the ghostly ruins. A perfect setting for a ghostly witch, and a possessed girl to appear.

The ground shook slightly as a battered looking jet plane crashed onto the ground, tearing up the grass as it carried on moving for a few seconds. Nearby crows began to shriek their disapproval of the disturbance to an otherwise silent night.

The cabin door flew open, to reveal Kimiko, or rather Zeloth, as she scrambled out of the door with an insane cackle.

'Looks like we got here just in time for the party' cackled Zeloth, as she began walking - with a slightly drunken stagger – towards Jack.

She pouted.

'Although I think we may have missed the fun part, Jackie here seems to have located the shen-gong-wu without us.'

Jack scowled, and tuned to follow her gaze to several yards behind him, where a glimmer of gold could be seen slowly rising out of the earth. His eyes widened, and after a moments shock, he quickly scrabbled over to the shen-gong-wu, almost tripping over his own feet as he flung himself at the piece, shortly followed by the graceful pounce of Zeloth.

Jack landed on his hands, one of them gripped around the shen-gong-wu, Zeloth only a hair's breadth behind him, also with one hand wrapped over the staff.

There was only one thing for it.

'Zeloth! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!'

Jack was quick to speak, as he knew he would have the advantage, the ability to choose the challenge.

Zeloth emitted a strange giggle, a twisted look of gleeful hate playing across a stolen face.

'What's this? A challenge? I accept boy, I will take great pleasure in crushing you'

Just to the left of the pair Wuya let out snarl of frustration and shook her head.

The nearby Xiaolin dragons were all sporting the same expression, a small superior smile, perhaps this wasn't going to be so difficult after all?

Jack smirked.

'I am sure I will take great pleasure knowing that _you_ will to be a great disadvantage.

I see you are confused, witch, let me spell it out for you.

You don't get to choose the challenge,

You are in a weakened form in a body you _clearly_ aren't used to yet,

and oh yes, the best of all.'

He took a moment to appreciate the look of anguish on Wuya's face before continuing.

'You have no shen-gong-wu _whatsoever_.'

Jack smirked as a look of doubt flittered across Kimiko's face, before Zeloth finally realised just what she had agreed to.

'Even better yet,' came Dojo's rough voice from not so far off, 'official rules say you are forbidden to use magic of any kind!'

'IMBECILE! How could you have forgotten the rules? Could you not have WAITED until you figured them OUT?'

A short period of bickering ensued as the two witches expressed their anger.

Jack was pleased that Wuya's wrath was aimed at someone else for once, and after a moments basking he decided to create a suitably unfair task.

'See that wall over there?'

He said, pointing to a nearby wall, three ancient circular windows adorning the higher side of the wall, creating an uneven ledge on the bottom of the highest window.

'First one to scale that wall, and reach the highest window ledge gets the shen-gong-wu'

Such a simple task, if lost, could lose so much. Jack hoped lady luck was cheering for him.

A little wave of the Spicer flag wouldn't hurt.

He looked over to the dragons, looking for assurance that he had done the right thing. He was glad he checked, as the sight of a very pissed off Wuya, a smirking Raimundo, and Clay and Omi both with bright smiles greeted him, even Dojo seemed relieved by his choice.

It was strange to have so many looks of pride directed at him, no matter how mild they were.

He looked back to Zeloth, and grimaced at the look she was putting on Kimiko's face. He recovered himself quickly and brought himself to look back at her.

'Gong yi tampai!'

They both yelled, Jack still not used to hearing such a strange voice coming from Kimiko's mouth.

_By god I hope she gets out of this safely._

It was strange, in her absence, Jack could keep thinking up new things that he liked about Kimiko, things he had made subconscious notes on, without ever really noticing.

Nothing particularly deep - he didn't really know he that well – but he missed the look of self-assured confidence on her face.

As he watched the surrounding ruins stretch up skywards he resolved when this was all over, he would get to know Kimiko, and he would make sure to see that confidence back on her face.

He resolved that once it returned no one but he would ever take that look off her face again.

Jack quickly shirked off his trenchcoat and heli-pack after pulling the Monkey staff from his pocket.

He loved his coat, but it would slow him down having to carry all that dead weight around.

He turned to look at his opponent.

Zeloth was looking over the wall, perhaps looking for a fast way up.

The wall itself was no longer flat, it had odd stone edges jutting out of it, along with the occasional Ivy vine and stone pole.

He watched a small smile appear on her face as she looked up at the obstacle before her.  
Jack sure hoped that she was just overcome by the impossible nature of the challenge.

She was a witch after all, even unarmed who said she would conform to the rules?  
Even if he got the shen-gong-wu by default like that, what use would it be to him when he was dead?

He shook his head to clear out all the thoughts racing around his head. He drew his attention back to the staff in his hand, and as he concentrated on it he felt himself change. The changing itself had never been pleasant, but the tail and fangs were great. The only downside was the annoying cravings for bananas and the occasional flea.

Focusing on the task at hand he cracked his neck and stretched out his wrists before glancing over to Zeloth.

As soon as their eyes met he knew it had begun.  
He set off with a flying leap at the wall, his tail immediately curling around a nearby pole.

He swung round the pole and catapulted himself up to the next ledge, and the next, and the next.

It seemed a little too easy. He paused for a second, only to have the outcrop of rock he was standing on suddenly retract into the wall. Luckily there was a pole just beneath him, which he managed to grab hold of.

As soon as he balanced himself he looked above him. All of the stones had started to move, staying out for a few moments before jumping back into the wall. He looked around him, looking for Zeloth, but she couldn't be seen.

He was getting a little tense, things were getting harder.

He glanced back above him, to see Zeloth cackling as she jumped from ledge to ledge, just in time as it flew out of the wall.

Jack was alarmed, how had she got up there so fast? He quickly shook himself out of his stupor and sent himself flying upwards, easily missing two levels of rock, he continued as fast as he could, whilst trying to figure out when the ledges would move.

He was distracted by a cry from above, as he looked up he let out a startled cry and jumped to the left.

Zeloth was falling, she had been hit by one of the rocks that had begun to fall from the sky.

Jack was hit by a vague feeling of déjà vu, someone up there obviously had a dry sense of humour.

He blocked out all his thoughts and centred his attention upwards once more.

Jack had no doubt that Zeloth would be coming back after him soon, he had a feeling she would let herself be hit by falling rocks if it meant that she would catch up.

As the opportune moment arose he took his chance, he jumped up ledge after ledge, shinning up an Ivy vine, and after a few more jumps He heard a gleeful cackle below.

Kimiko's bloodied body was climbing up the rock face, the only thing missing from her expression was a crazy gleam in her eyes, which were dull as stone.

Jack cursed and set off jumping again, taking more risks than he had before, he was knocked off balance only once, where a falling rock grazed his shoulder, his tail came in very handy at moments like those.

As soon as he could see the window ledge, far above him the torrent of rocks came down faster, and heavier. The surrounding conditions only continued to get worse as he continued upwards.

Progress was getting slower and slower, he even found himself diving downwards to avoid the falling rocks.  
The rocks had become more varied now, pebbles fell along side boulders as he worked his way up.  
Zeloth had caught up with him, he had seen her moving along side him as he dodged the rocks, blood falling from her nose as she jumped. Her movements were getting slower, the injuries were clearly taking their toll.

He was getting closer, the final ledge was just a few levels up.  
Jack took a flying leap above him, his tail balancing his flight.  
He landed flat on the rock, and made a last jump towards the now shining gold staff, floating within the centre of the window.

He careered forwards, time passed slowly as he hurtled towards his goal.

From what seemed like so far behind him he heard an anguished scream.

He ignored it and stretched out his arm, fingers splayed out ready to grab the staff. He was merely centimetres away when he felt a sharp tug on his shoulder, ruining his jump.

He quickly stretched his out his hand to grab onto the staff as he fell backwards.

Suddenly time sped up again, and he was hurtling towards the ground. The rocks had long since stopped falling, the ledges all retracted, there was nothing left to hold onto. He watched as the tall ruins came down to the ground with him, whatever had happened this showdown was over.

Jack groaned, his head hurt, and he was cold.

He opened his eyes to see an out of focus yellowish globe floating just inches from his face.  
He blinked as he tried to focus, and slowly, a pair of eyes came into focus.

Jack screamed.

'WHAT THE HELL?'

He shot up, eyes wide as he looked at what was obviously Omi.

As the rest of his surroundings came into focus, he noticed laughing from behind him.

He craned his neck over to see a smiling Clay, and Raimundo laughing his head off.

Jack growled, NO ONE laughed at Jack Spicer.

Apart from maybe Wuya…

He was about to jump up and attack Raimundo when he realised two things.

He was in huge amounts of pain, and…

The showdown!

His eyes widened as he looked up at Omi.

'What happened? I almost had it then… I got pulled backwards?'

Omi chuckled, 'Yes, it was a rather good technique, perfectly allowed, Dojo said.'

Jack gave Omi a confused look.

'WHAT? What the hell does that mean balloon head?'

Omi corrected him.

'You mean _water_ balloon head!'

Omi cracked up laughing, clearly pleased with himself.

Jack looked at him in disbelief before turning to clay with a desperate look on his face.

'WHAT THE _HELL_ IS GOING ON?'

Clay smiled 'The little lady…'

He stopped smiling at this, remembering that Zeloth wasn't a little lady at all.

'Zeloth that is, she pulled your shoulder and knocked you off course, you fell off the ledge.'

Jack had a blank look on his face, he stared at clay for a while before speaking slowly.

'Yes. I. was. aware. of. that.' He took his time over each word, just to make sure it sank in with Clay.

He spoke again ' Shen-gong-wu. What. happened.?

Clay smiled lopsidedly.

'Sorry partner, thought you meant the fall, oh right. Yeah, hold on.'

Clay turned around to feel around the grass behind him, it was so damn dark.

'Here ya go, Spicer, I'm thinking you deserve it. That was one hell of a showdown'

He held out the staff to Jack, who stared at it with wide eyes before his shoulders sagged with relief.

He was alerted to the sound of a very familiar screeching rant, he looked around to see an also unconscious Zeloth nearby with Wuya clearly trying to wake her.

He watched as Kimiko's body began to rise, her knees shaking as she did so.

She looked up, a confused expression on her face, but her eyes.

Oh god her eyes.

He stared at Kimiko stunned, her eyes were shining, alive.

What happened?

Had Zeloth left Kimiko's body now it was so damaged?

Kimiko's expression slowly changed, her confused face becoming blank.

The fleeting light left her eyes, leaving them resolute and dead once more.

He stared at Kimiko's face, and Zeloth stared back.

_Ah, still here…_

_I'm so tired, what is happening…_

_It hurts… why does it hurt?_

_My head… I feel strange…Am I dreaming? _

_I can't… can't seem to… wake up…_

_All I can see… I can't see, but…_

_There's still… Jack, I remember that day… Something after that… Jack…_

_But I don't like jack, why…. Jack?_

_Jack!_

_I can see!_

_Why are you looking at me like that? What's happening? What did I do?_

_Argh… _

_My head again…_

_Jack… _

_Even you are fading away from me now…_

_So alone here…_

_**There goes the end again. Confused? Perhaps, that will be explained later on.**_

_**Reviews feed my muse, now if it were to starve… Well, that would be a shame now wouldn't it?**_


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